Essential Consulting Skills for Any Professional

Consulting entails data collection, strategy, and planning. Consultant then present these plans and strategies to businesses and organizations, making the job a combination of business and client-facing responsibilities. When most people think of consulting, they think of charts and data, but the job is far more comprehensive, encompassing skills ranging from creativity to commercial awareness to strict attention to detail.

The market for consultants is competitive, so employers tend to look for very specific attributes in their candidates. The following is a list of sought-after hard and soft skills in the consulting world.

Leadership

Leadership skills are some of the most highly valued soft skills. Employers look for candidates who thrive in positions of influence, enjoy a challenge, and demonstrate the ability to lead a team intuitively. There’s no right way to define or describe great leadership skills, and not all great leaders possess the same skills. Generally, leadership skills enable a person to lead and deliver tasks, empower others, delegate responsibility, and encourage initiatives.

These abilities are integral for consulting, along with creating connections and a sense of trust with colleagues and clients. Self-management, strategic thinking, and effective communication are other leadership skills consultants share.

Creative thinking

When you think of creativity, you might envision jobs in design or entertainment. However, creative thinking is a concept that covers a much broader range of industries and can be applicable in any field. Creative thinking involves the ability to find unorthodox solutions to common problems and the flexibility to handle the unpredictable.

Communication

Written and verbal communication are central to consulting jobs. Consultants get paid for their insight, so you must be able to communicate your ideas to clients and colleagues effectively and employ active and empathetic listening. Additionally, consulting often involves describing complex topics to people who aren’t well-versed in those subjects. A hallmark of effective communication is the ability to break complex ideas down in ways clients can understand.

Synthesis

Synthesis is the byproduct of analysis. One of the core strengths of strategic professionals is their ability to assimilate facts, data, analysis, and conversations and turn them into insight. Known as the “main takeaway,” synthesis describes the incorporation of ideas and facts and the extraction of higher-level meaning and knowledge.

Collaboration

Consulting firms are placing increasing emphasis on collaboration in the workplace. Your ability to collaborate with colleagues is beneficial regardless of the industry. When it comes to clients, though, interacting with management-level employees and those working under them can give you some of the best insight into the true strengths and weaknesses of an organization. Conversely, when it comes to implementing change, your strategies are only as effective as how well they’re communicated through an organization.

Time management

When helping a company reform or troubleshoot an issue, time is of the essence. Streamlining operations, increasing productivity, and building revenue are among the many reasons consultants are hired, and the faster those improvements occur, the happier the client. Additionally, consultants either bill by the hour or work for a fixed fee, so managing time efficiently to remain within budget is essential. Your ability to prioritize, delegate, set goals, and manage appointments are only a few of the skills that help you use your time well.

Commercial awareness

Consultants typically spend their careers helping companies in a variety of industries. Therefore, your ability to quickly understand the fundamentals of how any given industry works is a huge asset. Even if you’re not an expert in a specific industry, it will save time and money and demonstrate that you’re driven and up to date.

Conceptualization

Part of a consultant’s job involves storytelling. This skill is closely related to communication and synthesis but moves beyond understanding data. The best consultants can take complex problems and solutions and break them down into compelling narratives and models that are easy for clients to visualize and understand.

A great consultant not only offers suggestions but also provides understanding and clarity. They inspire action, helping clients help themselves. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses in your consulting career and striving to improve your skills will help set you apart from the competition. Here are a few ways you can improve your consulting skills:

1. Take online courses. Online courses offer flexibility with regard to studying and completing assignments. Typically, you can find correspondence courses for extra training in a specific industry and courses on how to improve consulting skills such as storytelling, conflict resolution, project management, and communication. Many courses offer certifications upon completion, so look for ones that will help you build your resume and client base.
2. Hire a consultant. Yes, some consultants work with other consultants. In reality, they’re more like business coaches, but they exist to help consultants become even better at what they do. Perhaps you know of a consultant who excels at something you’d like to improve upon — reach out to them. They might be willing to act as a mentor or at least share how they obtained the skill you’re looking for.
3. Broaden your area(s) of expertise. Rather than focusing on a specific industry, try to build a diverse client base. Consider each unfamiliar experience an opportunity to learn something new and increase your wealth of knowledge across multiple industries. You’ll likely uncover strengths you didn’t realize you had.
4. Network. Top consultants are especially adept at building relationships with clients. Networking within the consulting world creates opportunities to deliberate with consultants who are already where you aspire to be. Networking can also boost your confidence and build your brand.

The easiest way to hone your consulting skills is to consciously implement the most critical elements of consulting — leadership and communication — each day in the workplace:

• Be assertive. Assertiveness isn’t about dominating a conversation. Understanding your clients’ communication styles and adjusting your own accordingly, being in charge of your emotions — especially when dealing with difficult clients or colleagues — and communicating your needs and expectations clearly are all examples of assertiveness in the workplace. Clients look to their consultant for expert advice. You can reinforce the confidence they have in you by being assertive with your professional knowledge.
• Synergize. The importance of collaboration comes up again here because it works most effectively when you use strong leadership and communication to direct it. Ushering discussions with both clients and colleagues and keeping them focused without dominating those conversations can help you strengthen your consulting skills in the workplace.
• Think outside the box. You can nurture and practice your creative thinking skills in the workplace in a variety of ways, including changing a small part of your routine, which forces you to deal with new situations in a stress-free way; reconceptualizing a problem, which allows you to view things from new perspectives; brainstorming — alone and with others — without dismissing ideas that seem wild or weird; and thinking positively, which encourages creativity.

When applying for a job, your skills are a huge part of the way you present yourself. Successful consulting hinges on well-honed hard and soft skills, and given the competitive nature of the industry, highlighting your strengths is essential. Here are a couple ways to do that:

For cover letter and resume

Your resume and cover letter are great mediums for presenting your strongest skills. While resume formats tend to be more list-oriented, you can use your cover letter to grab an employer’s attention with specific examples of how you’ve applied a skill. Numbers speak volumes, so include as many statistics as you can.

Example: “In my last consulting job, I raised quality metrics an average of 24%, while cutting over $20,000,000 in costs for 31 companies in my last year. At my first consulting job, I contributed to the creation of omni-channel campaigns that resulted in sales growth of over 90%, and I really enjoyed transforming data insights into actionable strategic plans.”

For a job interview

During a job interview, the hiring manager will direct the conversation with specific questions, but you can showcase your skills through storytelling. It’s especially beneficial to review commonly asked interview questions and brainstorm answers ahead of time.

Example: 

Interview question: “Are you comfortable in a leadership role?” 

Answer: “I thrive in leadership roles! At Kimberden University, I tutored 15 students for the Corporate Marketing lecture and mentored them that year. At my first consulting job, I immediately began strengthening my leadership skills by taking a co-lead role on two major strategic digitalization projects. That experience really opened my eyes to the importance of collaboration between leaders and teams toward common goals.”